Cold meds, need your help, and damn Starbucks and their holiday cheer

Here are just a few things I've been wanting to share:


Hyland's Cold and Cough.  Have you tried this stuff with your fluish-like baby or toddler?  If not, why not?!  It's a miracle in a bottle, I'm not kidding.  It happens to be homeopathic which to me means notsomuch because I'm all about modern medicine or whatever makes them better but I suppose that's a bonus. 

Lauren has a nasty cold right now.  Watery eyes, super runny nose, cough, and she looks like hell.  Thanks to the cough she's sleeping like hell, too.  After the first dose her symptoms were minimized significantly.  After the second dose she stopped coughing altogether.  It could be a coincidence but as of right now I'm totally sold on this product.  The reviews on the website are great, too.  Of course they are on their own website, right?  But still...

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Our dining room is empty after 6 years of enjoying our friends' dining room furniture.  It was special because it was his parents' so long ago and we were able to enjoy 6 years worth of holidays and special occasions using it.  It's time now to return it and to get our own.  That's where YOU come in.  Do you have a job at a computer but find yourself browsing online during the day?  If so, do you want to be my personal dining room furniture shopper?  You DO?!  That's fabulous!  Ok, here's what I like:  I need at least an 8 seater (with a leaf).  I'd like dark wood or possibly even black.  Probably no upholstery on the chairs but leather would be fine.  I would really really love a farmhouse table.  Chris has few requirements except that it is not a farmhouse table.  So there ya go.  Get to shopping.  Oh, and here's a look at the room.  It's not huge but not as small as this pic makes it seem.

OH!  And I also need a china cabinet or a hutch.  Obviously something that matches the table.  I like a more traditional style as opposed to modern.

I'm not really exaggerating when I say I think I wanted this house because of this chandelier in the dining room.

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We're going away this spring for our 10 year anniversary/honeymoon trip.  Like going away, going away.  We will be coming back but it will be after a long alone trip somewhere far far away where we've slept and swum and eaten and had too much to drink.  Anyway, the body I occupy right now I have decided is not invited so I'm working very hard to have a healthier one before the trip.  I won't bore you with my workout regimine or my daily caloric intake or the app I use to record even the air I breathe, but I will tell you this:

This bad boy - a peppermint brownie cakepop from Starbucks - is 170 calories and is nearly 12 minutes of kicking ass on the elliptical.  Worth it?  Only on gym double-days. 

Damn you, Starbucks.